This I Believe

Many people live out their lives without ever fully accomplishing their true passions. Whether it is because of the pressures of a demanding lifestyle or conflict within the self, our passions are sometimes never realized. People are always saying to “follow your heart” and your dreams. More realistically, we live in a world that is increasingly telling us to follow consumerism, commercialism, and progressivism. A world that seeks the advancement of humanity by making us pawns in the large and complicated game of life. Meaning, we should never allow others to rule over our lives. Neither, should we lose self identity by accepting the labels placed upon us by society. If we allow this then we will surely lose our passions. Were it not for passion we would not have great leaders, artists, teachers, authors, and even movie directors. The very things that add flare and zest to life would cease to exist.

I believe in living life with a passion. This feeling is what has kept me hopeful throughout my life. With passion I am able to pursue the dreams that I love and believe in. Many experiences throughout my life have helped me see how important it is to be passionate about something. When I was growing up, my passion was to live and study in the United States. For years I had experienced the difficult life of living in a third-world country where I constantly found myself in a grimy and treacherous neighborhood. Just across the border lay America, the source of my great passion, but it seemed farther away due to the mental barriers that blocked the way. My family had always lived in Mexico where our traditions and culture were deeply rooted. For years I held to my passionate hope of learning English and becoming an American student. It was this passion that helped convince my parents to enroll me in an American private school, finally realizing my dreams.

When you follow your passion you are doing much more than running after a dream. You are reaching a point of fulfillment and gaining a fundamental element that completes you. I believe that someone can never fully demonstrate who they are unless they are passionate about something. How else would you identify your purpose in life if it were not for passion? My grandfather would have never joined the navy and fought for his country during World War II if it hadn’t been for his passion to serve. He always spoke to me about duty and honor with great passion. He felt that if it had not been for the war, he would have never considered himself a mature young man. It was my grandfather’s passion that kept him alive during a time of great conflict–the same feeling that helped him live a life without regrets.

When I turned ten years old, I received a video camera as a gift. At first I was not sure what to make of this new contraption, since I had never used one before. Then one day I learned how to turn it on and after that I hit the record button. From then on I developed a passion for movie-making that has remained with me till this day. For years I gathered my friends, making movies of all sorts and becoming deeply passionate about directing and editing my films. Most of all, I believed that one day I could become a future director like Steven Spielberg. Although my passion for movie-making, to this day, has not made me a movie director or a famous star, it has kept me zestful, creative, and imaginative. My passion was not to become famous. It was simply to do what I like.

I believe that passion is the most powerful degree of emotion a human being can possess–powerful enough that people have died for their passions. Others have dedicated their whole lives to their passions. Passion lays the foundation for dreams and goals. I believe that everyone should be passionate about something. Most of all I believe that everyone should pursue their passions even if they will not make them rich or famous. No one should ever abandon their passion. For in the end nothing great can ever be accomplished without passion.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.